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Polish, German FMs discuss tensions in Belarus

14.08.2020 07:10
The Polish and German top diplomats have spoken on the phone to discuss tensions in Belarus after that country's contested presidential election, according to the foreign ministry in Warsaw.
Jacek Czaputowicz
Jacek CzaputowiczTymon Markowski/ MSZ/ Twitter/ @MSZ_RP

Poland’s Jacek Czaputowicz and Germany's Heiko Maas agreed on Thursday that clear signals were needed from the European Union in response to a violent crackdown on anti-government protesters in Belarus, public broadcaster Polish Radio’s IAR news agency reported.

“There is no consent to the use of force; we will support Belarusian citizens," the Polish foreign ministry tweeted after the talk.

On Friday, the foreign ministers of all 27 EU countries are scheduled to confer on Belarus.

Earlier this week, the EU said in a statement that the contested Belarus presidential vote on Sunday, August 9, was "neither free nor fair."

The bloc’s foreign policy chief Josep Borrell called on the Belarusian authorities "to release immediately and unconditionally all detained.”

Thousands have been detained by Belarus authorities amid a crackdown on protesters who accuse strongman President Alexander Lukashenko of rigging his re-election victory, news agencies have reported.

Belarus on Thursday began releasing some of those detained, the Reuters news agency reported, amid signals from the EU that it was considering imposing sanctions.

(gs)

Source: IAR